(intrapersonal) learning style
If you have a solitary style, you are more
private, introspective and independent. You
can concentrate well, focusing your thoughts
and feelings on your current topic. You are
aware of your own thinking, and you may
analyze the different ways you think and
You spend time on self-analysis, and often
reflect on past events and the way you
approached them. You take time to ponder and
assess your own accomplishments or
challenges. You may keep a journal, diary or
personal log to record your personal
thoughts and events.
You like to spend time alone. You may have a
personal hobby. You prefer traveling or
holidaying in remote or places, away from
You feel that you know yourself. You think
independently, and you know your mind. You
may have attended self-development
workshops, read self-help books or used
other methods to develop a deeper
understanding of yourself.
You prefer to work on problems by retreating
to somewhere quiet and working through
possible solutions. You may sometimes spend
too much time trying to solve a problem that
you could more easily solve by talking to
You like to make plans and set goals. You
know your direction in life and work. You
prefer to work for yourself, or have thought
a lot about it. If you don’t know your
current direction in life, you feel a deep
sense of dissatisfaction.
Common pursuits and phrases
Those that have a strong solitary style
include authors, researchers, park rangers
and security guards. Peak performers in any
field often have a good solitary style
behind other more dominant styles.
You are more likely to use phrases that
reflect your other dominant styles. Here are
some other phrases you may also use:
I’d like some time to think it over.
This is what I think or feel about that.
I’d like to get away from everyone for a
I’ll get back to you on that.
Learning and techniques
You prefer to learn alone using self-study.
When you spend time with an instructor or a
teacher, you often only clarify information
you haven’t be able to clarify yourself. You
may dislike learning in groups.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions like
“What’s in this for me?” “Why does this
matter?”, “How can I use this idea?” Be
aware of your inner thoughts and feeling
towards various topics. This is because
these inner thoughts have more of an impact
on your motivation and ability to learn than
they do in the other styles. Here are a few
ideas to help this along:
Spend more time on the “Target” step of the
Memletic Approach. Set your goals,
objectives and plans. Define ultra-clear
visualizations or scripts of what life is
like once you’ve achieved your goals.
Understand your reasons for undertaking each
objective, and ensure that you are happy
with your learning goals.
Align your goals and objectives with
personal beliefs and values. If there is
misalignment, you may run into issues with
motivation or confidence. It’s not always
obvious what the underlying cause is. If you
suspect a misalignment, try some of the
techniques like “five whys” and “seventy by
seven” to flush these issues out. Scripting
and assertions also help highlight issues.
If you script your goal and you find you
don’t like certain parts of it, that’s
probably a hint that you have some
Create a personal interest in your topics.
An example for pilots might be to learn more
about other aviators, both current and past.
Why do others find aviation interesting?
What is in it for them? What keeps them
motivated? Why do they work in the field?
You may also want to look at the people
behind your books or material. What was
their motivation to create it? Why do you
think they organized the material in the way
they did? Can you ask them?
Keep a log or journal. You may want to keep
one separate from your normal journal or
training log. Include extra information
about your thoughts and feelings. Outline
your challenges, ideas on how to overcome
them, and what worked. Write down what works
well and doesn’t work well for you. While
you are studying, be aware of thoughts or
concerns that arise. Write them down and
come back to them. Discuss with others later
if needed. Bear in mind it may be more
efficient to put something that confuses you
aside, and ask others later. This is often
better than spending too much time trying to
work it out yourself.
When you associate and visualize, highlight
what you would be thinking and feeling at
the time. You may want to do most of your
visualization and association in private. I
suggest you also try talking to others with
more experience to get some idea of what
thoughts and feelings they have in various
Assertions are important for you. You drive
yourself by the way you see yourself
internally. Assertions are a good way to
ensure your internal self-image matches your
learning objectives. This also applies to
the scripting techniques, so include your
internal thinking and feelings in your
Modeling is a powerful technique for you.
Don’t just model behaviors and appearance.
Try to get “inside their heads” and model
the thought patterns and feelings you
believe they have in various circumstances.
You can gain ideas by talking to people or
reading biographies. Remember you don’t have
to find a single perfect model. Create a
model that combines several people.
Be creative with role-playing. You don’t
always need other people to role-play with,
because you can create plenty of people
using visualization! For example, you can
visualize your instructor beside you, or a
colleague and you practicing a procedure or
skill. Work with them and talk to them while
you visualize. An advantage of this form of
role-playing is that you can control their
When changing behaviors and habits, you need
to have a strong desire to make the changes
you want. Explore the benefits of making a
change, and visualize scenarios in which
you’ve already made the change. If you don’t
believe strongly in the benefits, you may
find it difficult to change the behavior.
Your thoughts have a large influence on your
performance and often safety. Your thoughts
are just as much part of a system as is the
physical equipment you are using, such as an
aircraft, car or boat. In addition, other
people are also part of those systems, so be
aware that their thoughts and feelings can
affect the overall system.
Years of refinement have made physical
equipment, such as aircraft and boats, safe
and reliable. For example, aircraft failure
causes less than ten percent of all aircraft
accidents. The largest percentage is pilot
error, more than seventy percent. This is
likely the case in many other fields. It’s
just not as visible when accidents happen.
It’s well worthwhile spending some time
refining the reliability of your own
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enterprise-wide, you can count of Frontline Learning to deliver.
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